EU environment ministers today approved a negotiating mandate for the European Commission at the UN Cop 28 climate conference in Dubai later this year. The ministers also updated the bloc's nationally determined contribution (NDC) to reflect the EU's aim to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55pc by 2030, from 1990 levels.
The emissions reduction goal is linked to the bloc's recently agreed "Fit for 55" package. Several member states had called for specific mention in the EU's NDC of GHG cuts of 57pc by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. "If you add up what all member states will be doing, you can all see that is -57pc," said recently appointed EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra. "What I'd really like to continue to have in [Cop 28] is the phase out of fossil [fuels]," added Hoekstra. But he gave no specific deadline for fossil phase-outs. "Sooner rather than later," he said, noting the need for coalition building within the EU.
There is no alternative to driving down emissions "across the board", Hoekstra continued. But carbon capture and storage (CCS) is part of the "total solution space" taking account of hard-to-abate sectors. "It should be minimised to very specific sectors that otherwise cannot continue," said Hoekstra.
Calls for developed countries to hit net zero before 2050 so that developing countries can still use natural resources for economic growth is not reflected in the text "as such" said Teresa Ribera, acting Spanish minister for ecological transition. "It's reflected in that we need to accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels, to ensure fossil fuels are not with us by 2050," Ribera told Argus. "In this pathway towards phase-out there's no room for new coal," she added.
Hoekstra gave no specific deadline for fossil phase-outs. "Sooner rather than later," he said noting the need for "coalition building" within the EU. Germany's special envoy for climate policy, Jennifer Morgan, avoided a specific phase-out date and called instead for "phasing up" renewables and energy efficiency. "It's clear from the science that we also have to phase out fossil fuels. It's clear also that for some of the very hard-to-abate sectors, we'll need abatement technologies," she said. This week Morgan said Berlin would push for a Cop 28 decision on tripling worldwide renewable power capacity by 2030.
EU ministers also called for tripling installed renewable energy capacity to 11 TW and doubling of the rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030.
